Design and Implementation of 21 Level Asymmetrical Multilevel Inverter with Reduced Number of Components

In this paper, the design and development of a 21-level asymmetrical multilevel inverter (MLI) with fewer components, higher efficiency, and less Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) are discussed. The new inverter topology is based on eight MOSFET switches (IRF840) in an H-bridge configuration, and a dsPIC30F2010 micro controller for the generation of gate pulses through optimized control algorithms. The TLP350 MOSFET driving circuits power the power circuit, and the DC input sources are asymmetrically designed with voltage ratings of 20 V, 40 V, 60 V, and 80 V to produce stepped output waveforms. Both hardware and simulation implementations were performed to test the performance of the inverter proposed.